Ron Paul’s 2012 presidential aspirations are hurt by his foreign policy stance. Or so say the polls[2].

The truth, however, is that foreign policy is one of Paul’s strongest points.

Paul is a non-interventionist. He wants to bring troops home from Iraq, Afghanistan and from all over the world. He wants the U.S. to stop policing the world, mind its own business and spend less money on defense.

This is in sharp contrast to the current state of U.S. foreign policy, which has the U.S. spending nearly five percent of its GDP on the military each year and stationing troops in over 150 countries (including heavy presences in friendly countries like Japan).

The U.S., in fact, accounts for 43 percent of the total global military spending in 2010, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The U.S. was not always this hawkish. George Washington, in his farewell speech, famously warned the U.S. against entangling alliances with foreign countries. He advocated reducing foreign political and military relationships but “extending our commercial relations,” which is exactly what Paul advocates.

After Washington’s presidency, the U.S. strayed farther and farther from his non-interventionist stance as its power grew. By the time the Cold War ended, the U.S. completed its 180-degree transformation into the world police.